HR 6 passes US House of Representatives!

It's rare that I see the same exciting news release for both Parkinson's disease and Lyme disease, but today is an exception. The 21st Century Cures Act passed the House of Representatives in Washington DC with flying colors. This is indeed an historic moment. Why? This bill appropriates real money and resources toward the search for prevention of and cures for neurological diseases. Now all we have to do is put the pressure on the Senate to pass the bill and send it on to the President's desk. 

Think of this bill like a Manhattan project but instead of building the atomic bomb, the best minds will be working on figuring out what the heck causes the debilitating, heartbreaking idiopathic neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, chronic Lyme, MS, ALS, Multiple System Atrophy, and so on. Maybe there is a God after all.

-Bob

Dear Parkinson's community, One important milestone for a historic piece of legislation has been reached. This morning the U.S. House of Representatives passed the 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 6) by a resounding vote of 344 to 77.  Thank you for your phone calls, emails, and advocacy over the last few months in support of this bipartisan legislation, which will accelerate the discovery and development of new treatments for Parkinson's! The 21st Century Cures Act includes one of PAN's top policy priorities, the Advancing Research for Neurological Diseases Act, which will, among other things, finally provide us with an accurate count of how many Americans live with Parkinson's disease. The 21st Century Cures Act also invests in critical medical research at the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration and encourages patient-focused drug development. Now our attention turns to the Senate, where we'll need a strong show of support. Please take a few minutes to email your Senators about this important cause as well as thank your Representative for voting. Take Action! Thank you again for your advocacy. We look forward to working with you to move this across the finish line in the months ahead! Sincerely, Ted Thompson Chief Executive Officer   P.S. We're excited by the progress of this legislation - please consider a gift to PAN to help us continue this important work!